When I received a text message from my friend that a group on campus is giving out condoms in exchange for bibles, my first reaction was shock. Then came anger; then sadness. It seemed like such a sudden, unprovoked attack on the Holy Bible, which we Christians believe to be the Word of God.
By exchanging the most precious source of knowledge about our religion for a cheap rubber excuse, I think people are giving up the truth for a lie. Putting all emotional reactions aside, I assure you that I understand the importance in some people’s minds of promoting “safe sex,” and realize that one method to prevent the spread of infectious diseases is the use of condoms.
These same people who advocate condoms for the sake of safe sex cannot, however reluctantly, deny that abstinence (no sex at all) is the safest practice to avoid infection or pregnancy. But for those who take the risk, condoms are a satisfactory measure to prevent adverse consequences. The message of safe sex is clear, but what about the message of exchaning the Bible for a condom? Why did this organization insist on an exchange at all for condoms?
I argue that their distribution could have been more efficient had they been freely giving condoms away, simply because college students adore free things, especially useful free things. And are those who so willingly give up their Bibles for objects easily obtained at Planned Parenthood (by the shoebox full) going to be the ones who are even carrying a Bible in the first place?
Ultimately, I think that the idea of promoting safe sex practices did not necessarily need to include the exchange of what some people consider holy.